Struggle to get aid to Turkiye, Syria

Antakaya: Aid agencies and governments stepped up a scramble Tuesday to send help to parts of Turkiye and Syria devastated by an earthquake, but a week after the disaster many complained they still were struggling to meet basic needs, like finding shelter from the bitter cold.

The situation was particularly desperate in Syria, where a 12-year civil war has complicated relief efforts and meant days of wrangling over how to even move aid into the country, let alone distribute it.

Some people there who lost their homes said they have received nothing. In Turkiye, meanwhile, several families crowded into tents meant for just one.

On Monday, the United Nations announced a deal with Damascus to deliver U.N. aid to through two more border crossings from Turkey to rebel-held areas of northwest Syria but the needs remain enormous.

Ahmed Ismail Suleiman set up a shelter of blankets outside his damaged house in the town of Jinderis, one of the worst-hit communities in northwest Syria.

He is afraid to move his family back into a house that might not be structurally sound but that he cannot afford to repair.

So, for now 18 family members sleep outside in the small makeshift tent.

"We sit but can't sleep lying down here," he said.

"We are waiting for a proper tent."

Mahmoud Haffar, head of local council in Jinderis, said that locals have been able to scrounge up about 2,500 tents so far, but some 1,500 families still remain without shelter as nighttime temperatures fall to around minus 4 degrees Celsius (26 degrees Fahrenheit).

While tents have been in short supply, one women said the town has a surplus of donated bread and water.

To the southwest, in government-held Latakia, Raeefa Breemo said only those packing into shelters seem to be getting aid.

"We need to eat, we need to drink, we need to survive. Our jobs, our lives, everything have stopped," Breemo said.

Offers of help from rescue crews to generators to medical equipment have come from around the world, but the needs remain immense after the magnitude 7.8 quake and powerful aftershocks toppled or damaged tens of thousands of buildings, destroyed roads and closed airports for a time.

The quake affected 10 provinces in Turkiye that are home to some 13.5 million people, as well as a large area in northwest Syria that is home to millions.

Much of the water system in the quake-hit region was not working, and Turkiye's health minister said samples taken from dozens of points of the water system showed the water was unsuitable to drink.

In Adiyaman, Turkiye, on Sunday, Mehmet Arslan listed all the things he needed: water, electricity and a bigger tent.

He said seven people were sleeping in one for the moment.

"We're also battling the cold. ... What will we do, I don't know," said the 28-year-old.

"We've got small children. We can handle it but the small children, they're 1-year-old, 2-years-old, newborns. What do we do with them?"

While a first Saudi aid plane, carrying 35 tonnes of food, landed in Syrian government-held Aleppo on Tuesday, getting aid to the country's rebel-held Idlib has been especially complicated.

Until now, the U.N. has only been allowed to deliver aid to the area through a single border crossing with Turkiye, or via government territory, which presents its own logistical and political challenges.